Sergey Kovalev vs. Andre Ward in play for November 19 on HBO

ward4By Dan Ambrose: The proposed date for the HBO pay-per-view fight between IBF/WBA/WBO light heavyweight champion Sergey “Krusher” Kovalev (29-0-1, 26 KOs) and Andre Ward (28-0, 15 KOs) is November 19. However, Ward will need to win his next fight against unbeaten Sullivan Barrera (17-0, 12 KOs) on March 26 at the Oracle Arena in Oakland, California.

Kovalev doesn’t have a fight scheduled yet after his second win over Jean Pascal last January. Kovalev will need to fight again unless he wants to wait for Ward’s fight against Barrera to get done next month and go straight into that fight.

Ward is going by the impression that he his fight against Barrera will be his first fight of his three-fight contract with HBO rather than his second fight.

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Sergey Kovalev beats Andre Ward, says Roach

kovalev-pascal2 (4)By Allan Fox: When the time comes for Andre Ward (28-0, 15 KOs) to face IBF/WBA/WBO light heavyweight champion Sergey Kovalev (29-0-1, 26 KOs) later on this year in a fight on HBO PPV, trainer Freddie Roach says he sees Kovalev winning that fight. Roach says he likes the 31-year-old Ward a great deal, and he believes he’s a great boxer with a ton of skills.

However, Roach feels that the 6’1” Kovalev has too much punching power and size for Ward to handle. Ward has fought his entire career at super middleweight as a pro, and he’s moving up in weight to challenge Kovalev and the other top fighters in the division.

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Kovalev-Pascal 2 averaged 1.179M viewers on HBO

kovalev (4)By Dan Ambrose: Last Saturday night’s rematch between IBF/WBA/WBO light heavyweight champion Sergey “Krusher” Kovalev (29-0-1, 26 KOs) and 33-year-old Jean Pascal (30-4-1, 17 KOs) averaged 1.179 million viewers on HBO Championship Boxing with a peak of 1.269 million with their fight at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Canada.

Kovalev easily stopped Pascal in the 7th round. The fight was not competitive at all, and nothing like the first fight between them. It was so one-sided that it was boring to watch.

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Andre Ward looking forward to Sergey Kovalev clash

ward7By Allan Fox: Former WBA super middleweight champion Andre Ward (28-0, 15 KOs) confirms that he will be looking to fight IBF/WBA/WBO light heavyweight champion Sergey Kovalev later on this year. This is a fight that Ward really wants to take, as he is interested in creating a legacy for himself as a great fighter.

The only way for him to do that is to take on the best guys in the sport. Ward moved up from super middleweight after looking at the limited amount of potential fights in that division for him. Once Carl Froch retired from the sport, it left Ward with few options for big fights at 168. This helped him make a decision to move up to 175 so that could go after guys like Kovalev.

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Sergey Kovalev: The Baddest Man in Boxing

kovalev-pascal2 (4)By Paul Lam: In the lead-up to his Saturday night rematch against WBO/IBF/WBA light heavyweight champion Sergey ‘Krusher’ Kovalev, Jean Pascal had talked trash incessantly, accusing Kovalev, amongst other things, of being a racist. Such charges are not new to Kovalev’s ears, but the Haitian Canadian challenger and former light heavyweight world champion was hell-bent on turning them into a personal issue during an increasingly ugly fight promotion, culminating in a press conference in which Pascal symbolically handed out bananas to black members of the audience and notably to Kovalev’s trainer, John David Jackson, who himself is black, nearly sparking a physical altercation. Kovalev himself remained relatively unperturbed throughout the whole spectacle. He did however make one thing clear to the media and public; this time he wanted to end Pascal’s career for good.

Kovalev and Pascal met for the first time in March last year, a fight which Kovalev knocked down Pascal for the first time in his career in round three, hurt him repeatedly with heavy shots and compelled the referee to intervene in the eighth when Pascal was trapped in a corner, out on his feet and taking tremendous punishment.

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Kovalev angers Adonis Stevenson by calling him “Chickenson”

kovalev (10)By Tim Fletcher: Last night, IBF/WBA/WBO light heavyweight champion Sergey Kovalev called out WBC light heavyweight champion Adonis Stevenson in an embarrassing way after Kovalev’s 7th round stoppage win over Jean Pascal in their rematch on HBO at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Canada. It’s unclear whether Kovalev realized that the 38-year-old Stevenson was in the ring at the time.

Whatever the case, Kovalev said “I want to unify all four titles. I want to fight Adonis Chickenson.” Kovalev made things worse by imitating a chicken, and making it seem like Stevenson is a coward for not accepting a fight with him. Stevenson immediately walked up on Kovalev at that moment and had to be restrained after saying “I am the champion.”

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Hopkins favors Kovalev over Andre Ward

ward7By Allan Fox: Bernard Hopkins believes that it wouldn’t be a good thing for former WBA super middleweight champion Andre Ward (28-0, 15 KOs) to get inside the ring and face IBF/WBA/WBO light heavyweight champion Sergey “Krusher” Kovalev (29-0-1, 26 KOs) right now due to Ward’s inactivity.

Hopkins notes that Ward hasn’t been fighting on a regular basis for some time, and because of that, he feels that it would be bad management to let Ward face the hard hitting Kovalev. Hopkins doesn’t say how long he thinks that Ward’s promoters at Roc Nation Sports should wait before they put him in with Kovalev.

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Kovalev-Pascal final punch stats

kovalev-pascal2 (1)By Dan Ambrose: Light heavyweight world champion Sergey Kovalev may have closed the door finally on his rivalry with Canadian based fighter with his dominating 7th round knockout win last Saturday night on HBO Championship Boxing at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Canada.

While the 32-year-old Kovalev never officially put Pascal down on the canvas, he gave him enough of a beating to cause his trainer Freddie Roach to keep him on his stool following the 7th round of the fight. It was a wise decision for Roach to have stopped the contest because Pascal was no longer throwing punches after the 3rd round, and he was just out there soaking up punishment needlessly against the hard hitting Russian fighter Kovalev.

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Kovalev: I don’t think Roach changed Pascal at all

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By Chris Williams: We heard how trainer Freddie Roach was going to change his fighter Jean Pascal (30-4-1, 17 KOs) to make him a better fighter than he was before he took over as his trainer. Unfortunately for Pascal, we found out tonight how much Roach had improved his talent, which was clearly not at all. Pascal was stopped in the 7th round by IBF/WBA/WBO light heavyweight champion Sergey Kovalev (29-0-1, 26 KOs) at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Canada. Kovalev, 32, says he didn’t see any change at all in Pascal’s ability. It was the same Pascal, as far as Kovalev was concerned.

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Kovalev TKOs Pascal in 7

kovalev54By Dan Ambrose: In an easy one-sided fight, IBF/WBA/WBO light heavyweight champion Sergey “Krusher” Kovalev (29-0-1, 26 KOs) gave challenger Jean Pascal (30-4-1, 17 KOs) in a slow beat down in stopping him in the 7th round on Saturday night on HBO Championship Boxing at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Canada.

Pascal’s new trainer Freddie Roach stopped the fight after the 7th round in order to protect Pascal due to the punishment he was taking. Pascal looked like he had a nose injury. His nose was badly swollen up and it looked really bad. His left eye was swollen as well.

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